Dragons at Dawn
by LuckyLadybug
Summary: Following a devastating tragedy, an unlikely alliance forms between Rishid and Alister as they strive to restore their lost loved ones through dangerous and destructive means. Yugi-tachi must save not only the world, but those threatening it.
1. The Collapse

**Yu-Gi-Oh!**

**Dragons at Dawn**

**By LuckyLadybug**

**Notes: The characters are not mine (save for the Fragmented Triangle crew and any other OCs) and the story is. Part of the idea is something I've had for years, but Rishid's inclusion is recent and inspired by a dream. I'm not certain where this fits into my timeline; it could be after **_**Life After the Tears**_**, and then again, it could be in place of that story. And I can't guarantee how often this will be updated, but I do have ideas for it and so I hope to be able to use them consistently. Thanks to everyone who has offered plot ideas and encouragement! The name of the organization must be credited to Crystal Rose of Pollux.**

* * *

**Chapter One**

The structure had been immense not that long ago. The previous day it had stood in all its imposing majesty, as if daring for anyone to breach its walls. If anyone had opposed it before, they had not tried to do anything about it. Most had honestly not cared, though to be fair they had not known the secret agendas of the corporation. It had not been in place long, and its originators had only been beginning their diabolical plots. They had not thought that anyone knew that they were attempting in secret to harness an age-old power.

But they had been mistaken. This day several had dared to enter, determined to bring the plan to a halt. Yet it was unclear if they had been successful. The enemies they had sought to capture had perhaps escaped but more likely had been destroyed; the power unleashed from their ancient force had brought down the entire building in a horrifying cacophony of steel, wood, and plaster. There the remains had lain in silence for hours, giving no indication as to whether or not all had been swallowed up in their death throes. Smoke and other debris had filled the air, only cleared away at last by a stubborn wind as night fell.

And in the midst of the destruction there was still life.

A lone hand clawed up through the devastation, the raw and bleeding fingers seeking for a hold. At last locating a piece of debris that was fairly sturdy, they gripped tight. The owner of the hand began to hoist himself upward, clutching at another twisted piece of metal with his other hand. Blood was running into his eyes, making vision difficult, but he ignored it. The instinct to survive was strong, pushing him to continue struggling to extricate himself from the ruins. The top had been visible for some time now, and once he forced his battered body onto this stack, he should be there.

And then . . . where would he go from there? The bodies of his loved ones he had left behind him.

He had wanted to remain with them. For hours he had lingered, cradling the lifeless forms as he had struggled to convince himself that this was not real, that the duels had not ended their lives. He had been a broken man. All that he had cared for was now gone. But then their voices had come to him, urging him to get out of there. He was still alive, and he should never waste that precious gift. And even though he could not comprehend why he had survived, how could he refuse them their last request? Once he could manage to return to civilization, he would have to find someone to help him get their bodies away from here. He would not abandon their mortal remains to this cold and harsh burial ground. They would be properly laid to rest in a cemetery or mausoleum.

But freeing himself of this nightmare was not easy. For hours more he had wandered through the devastation, dazed and bleeding, favoring one leg over the other as he had stumbled into one dead end and then another. It seemed as though there was not any escape. Once he had managed to climb a good way up, only to find that he could go no further. And to add insult to injury, he had been unable to keep hold of his cruel ladder. He had tumbled back to a lower portion of the debris, where he had lain nearly unconscious for some time. His loved ones' voices had awakened him, encouraging him to keep going.

And now he was almost there. He was pulling himself up over the edge to kneel on the jagged ground. Through his blurring vision enough could be seen to know that it was indeed the top. The moon and stars shone down on the site, their light pale and wan as it touched upon the broken and twisted metal and wood.

And he was not alone. Another figure was standing several yards away, staring at something clutched in a trembling hand. The wind was playing with the edges of the person's long coat and the short hair, which was now tangled and mostly straight, the forced flip gone out of it.

He knew that person. Not very well, but they had interacted at times. And they had both come to this location with their loved ones and a singular goal in mind. What had happened? The figure looked as broken as the climber felt inside. Dry and sore lips parted, but no words escaped.

The cloaked man froze, the sounds of the struggle having reached his ears. He turned, his gray eyes widening at the sight.

"You . . ."

It was the first living voice the journeyer had heard in countless hours. And it was cracked and tortured. The object in the bleeding hand was held much tighter.

Golden eyes focused on it, recognizing its origins. "You . . . have lost someone too." It was a statement instead of a query. "Both of them. . . ."

Something flickered across the scratched face, dangerous and determined. "No. I'll get them back."

Confusion and concern passed across the first's eyes. "You cannot bring back the dead."

"I will." He held out his free hand. "I'll find a way. And I'll get your family back, too."

The plan was amiss. What had been done could not be tampered with or changed. But in the climber's stricken mind, the thought of there being any shred of hope was a comfort. For now he would not argue.

He reached out a sore hand in response, taking hold of the other's.

* * *

The rest of the night was long, mostly passing in a vague blur. They had escaped the ruins at some point, but with nowhere else to go they had been forced to walk to find shelter on legs that had long ago been ready to collapse. The man's new companion had tried to help where possible, but he could not do much in the way of lending physical support. They had been mostly silent as they walked, attempting to conserve needed energy as well as being lost in their thoughts of the horrors that had taken place. Before the golden eyes flashed the images of his family's lifeless forms, and it was almost certainly the same for the other.

Making it back to their hotel and entering through the back way happened mechanically. The steps were endless, and in each stairwell the voices out in the hall echoed, as if they were separated by the dimensions and on another plane altogether. They might as well have been; the two men were alone as they went up each floor, not wanting to attract attention.

At some point they gained the desired floor and traveled down the hall to the correct suite, belonging to the first man—and his family. The sight of the door and its number sent memories crashing through his mind again—memories of only the day before, in another lifetime. His sister had registered the suite in her calm, unconcerned way. Then they had gone up in the elevator, which was one of the modern clear kind that allowed one to look outside during the travel. His brother had enjoyed the view. Such things still amazed him, after having lived so many years in the darkness. . . .

. . . They _had_ still amazed him.

He fumbled in his pocket for the card key. It was somewhat surprising that it was still there and intact after the day's events. But now he was not sure if he could bear to go inside. He would see his siblings' possessions, and know that they would not be returning for them. . . . And he would have to make that telephone call to someone who could help with the bodies. . . .

Vertigo washed over him as he stood debating what to do. He had barely stopped to rest during the time he had been fighting to obtain liberty, save for the unwilling venture into unconsciousness. And then there had been the long walk. It was impossible to gauge how much time had passed since then, but this final onslaught of stress, coupled with having currently paused in the journey, was something he could not handle right now. His body was giving out.

"Hey . . . !"

He could hear the other's surprise, and a bit of desperation. He could feel the younger man trying to grab at him and keep him from collapsing. And he did not want to be a burden. Above all, he could not stand that thought. His fingers curled on the doorknob. But it was no use. He sank further down, hitting his raw knees as he slumped against the door.

* * *

It was much too peaceful when awareness began to return. The bed was soft, the mattress firm but inviting. The covers were warm without being hot or confining. And the light was not too bright. Still, memory had not faded during senselessness. It was there as soon as he began to revive—where he was, the reason why he was laying there, and the fact that he was alone. It was all too tempting to try to return to slumber in order to further ignore reality. But that would not make the truth go away.

Now his head was announcing its own pain. His hands were still raw as well, and as he raised one into his line of vision, he found that it was bandaged. His entire body was stiff. There was likely gauze in other locations; he recalled sustaining wounds on his arms and legs as well as in his side.

A form standing near the window caught his attention. He turned his head to the right, focusing golden eyes on the slender frame of his rescuer. The other was facing away, his arms crossed. His reddish hair, freshly washed, hung against his face and neck. His coat was absent, leaving him dressed in a tank top jersey and dark pants. He appeared younger than he truly was, though his actual age was not far past twenty. Now he looked like a young boy, lost and alone.

"It wasn't easy to get you in here," he said, his voice betraying none of his emotions. He always had been blunt, somewhat as the other's younger brother had been. Of course they were really quite different, but in this current time of devastation their similarities seemed all the more apparent. It only served to drive the ache deeper.

The bed-ridden man frowned. "Were you forced to bring me in by yourself?"

A shrug. "You woke up halfway to help."

He looked away. "I apologize for burdening you."

For a long moment there was silence. ". . . While you were sleeping off the damage, I read over some of your sister's research."

The golden eyes narrowed. In spite of any plans his ally might have for reviving their lost loved ones, and in spite of any characteristics shared with his brother, he was not certain he liked the idea of this man going through his sister's belongings without receiving permission from him.

"Did you discover anything that would help?" he asked, aware that his tone was somewhat clipped.

"Yes." The younger man turned to face the other, his gray eyes determined. "The very thing we came here to investigate could be something we could harness and use to revive her and the others."

That was not what the first man had expected to hear. The idea was cold and dark. He did not want anything more to do with the wretched power, and it was difficult to believe that the other would even consider it, for more reasons than one.

"Isn't it the very force that killed all of them?" came the retort.

A fist clenched. "That's all the more reason why it should be used in our favor, to bring them back."

The older man was not pleased. His sister had been adamant that the power not be used for any reason. They had come to stop those who were already interested in it, taking along this man and his friends due to their knowledge of a similar force. But their efforts had failed. Or, if their enemies were dead, it had been a bitter victory.

"You are overcome by grief," he said now. "You are not thinking rationally. Was it not you yourself who previously commented on how this power is very much like the Orichalcos, which brought so much sorrow to you and the others?"

There was a brief flicker in the tortured eyes, but the red-haired man was undaunted. "It would be fine if we use it right. If you're not willing to risk it, I'll go ahead by myself." He began to turn away again. "You'll be fine here in the hotel," he said. "I'll copy the research papers if you don't want me to take the originals. And when I've experimented and found how everything works, you'll be the first to know."

That was not an acceptable solution. "It was my sister's project. I do not trust you to go about it on your own."

"As you pointed out, I said that this force is a lot like the Orichalcos." The long arms crossed. "I know how the Orichalcos works; therefore it shouldn't be any problem to use this power."

They exchanged a long look, their eyes cold and impassive.

"Mr. Mackenzie . . ." The golden-eyed man gripped a handful of quilt as he hesitated. Perhaps his family would be upset with him for this, but he did not know what other course of action to take. In the past, when faced with such a serious problem and choice, he had gone along with the erring soul. Treachery had been committed, but it had seemed the lesser evil when faced with the possibility of the much more dire evil that had been trying to get free. Though in the end, it still had broken loose in spite of his best efforts.

In this situation, he did not want to make a possible enemy of the other. It was clear from his eyes that the younger man was now teetering on the brink of desperation and madness. If he was alone, he could wreak havoc not only on himself but on many others. Not that the dilemma would change with someone watching him whom he barely knew, but the golden-eyed man would feel better to know what was happening and to be right in the midst of it.

And he could not deny that in some dark corner of his mind, he wished that Mr. Mackenzie would be correct and this would work. He knew the dead could not be restored, but he could not suppress the longing for it to not be true. He desired more than anything else for his loved ones to be revived. They had not deserved to perish, nor had they wanted their lives to end. They needed another chance.

At last he spoke again. "If you are insistent, I feel I have no choice but to accompany you."

The redhead gave a single, satisfied nod. "Good. Then, Mr. Ishtar, I'd say we have a deal." He reached into his pocket. "I found these in the wreckage. They must have fallen from the people we dueled."

The other's eyes widened at the sight of the semi-precious rocks that their opponents had worn around their necks. The stones resembled tanzanite in color—a deep, polished blue. So small, and yet so dangerous.

"Why did you take them?" he demanded. "Were you planning this even then?"

"It's better for us to have them instead of any remaining enemies." Mr. Mackenzie held out one of them to the golden-eyed man. "When we go to get the others, I'm planning to see if I can find any more. I don't want anyone else to get hold of them, even the police or the cleanup crews."

Slowly a bandaged hand reached to accept the gem. He should not do it. He knew that, and yet he was going through with this anyway. His fingers closed around the tanzanite. It glowed in response, sending a tingling force into the big man's flesh. Already it was so empowering. Perhaps Mr. Mackenzie was correct after all. Perhaps if they collected as many of the stones as they could, and brought the gems to their full power level, they would be able to bring back those they had lost.

He gripped tightly at the rock. "Very well," he said. "Yes, that should be the first step."

Mr. Mackenzie nodded. "The stones are supposed to be able to grant the users' deepest wishes and hopes," he said, "if we activate their highest powers. And I know how to do that. We'll create the Neo-Orichalcos."

Something sounded terribly wrong about that. But the other only nodded. The Neo-Orichalcos. . . . Perhaps it would not be as devastating as the first. Perhaps it would instead be benevolent.

Outside, thunder boomed in the distance.


	2. Fragmented Triangle

**Chapter Two**

It had been fairly calm in Domino City for some time, and as far as they knew, no one was trying to usurp the world again. The only major events had been the rise of two new companies that had come several months ago and had swiftly gained prestige. But though one dealt in virtual reality technology, they did not create it for use with Duel Monsters, and hence did not take business away from Kaiba Corp.

Seto could not care less about either of the newly arrived companies or their work. He was fully immersed in his own work, as usual. It, and Mokuba, were all that he cared about. Mokuba had made friends with the charge of one of the company's co-presidents, and as far as Seto knew, Mokuba was keeping out of trouble. And Seto felt that anything that allowed Mokuba a bit of a normal life was a good thing.

News of the strange building's collapse and the deaths had not reached Domino, either. It had taken place out on a small island, far from Domino, and the two survivors had seen to it themselves that the bodies of their loved ones had been removed. The red-haired man had said that it would be better to keep it secret for a while, just until their plans had gone forward enough. The other had objected, especially since his younger brother had enjoyed such a close friendship with Seto's brother through the past years, but he had at last been convinced to accept the idea.

So it was that on this early summer evening, Mokuba suddenly burst into the Turtle Game Shop, his eyes wide and filled with worry.

Joey, who was leaning against the counter, blinked and straightened up. "What's up, Mokuba?" he asked.

"Yeah," Tristan agreed. "You look spooked."

Mokuba shook his head. "I've been trying to get in touch with Marik, and I can't!" he exclaimed.

Yugi, who had been minding the counter, came around to the other side. "Wasn't he going on some trip with Ishizu and Rishid?" he remembered.

Mokuba nodded. "He said it was just something to do with Ishizu's latest research or something. I didn't think anything would go wrong! He didn't act worried or anything." He clenched a fist. "But I can't reach him on his cellphone, and I don't know where the hotel is that they were going to stay at."

Joey shrugged. "He's probably just someplace where there's no signal," he said. "Ya know, like out digging somewhere in a desert."

"That's what I thought, too." Mokuba looked up at him. "But he said at nighttime they'd go back to the hotel, or at least that they'd be there the first night, so I sent an email. And he never answered."

"How long's he been gone?" Joey wondered.

Mokuba glanced to the calender. "They left the day before yesterday," he said.

"And he didn't tell you where they were going?" Yugi was surprised if that was so; normally Marik would not keep something like that secret from Mokuba. Either he had not yet known himself where they were going, which seemed too strange—or Ishizu had not wanted anyone to know. And if that was the case, then they had probably been going to investigate something dangerous.

"No, he didn't." Mokuba looked down at the palm computer in his hand, refreshing the email webpage. "Still nothing."

Yugi looked over at Joey and Tristan. They seemed to have similar thoughts to Yugi's; Joey was frowning as he stood there and Tristan was crossing his arms, his expression also somber. Something was likely wrong, but worrying Mokuba would not be a good idea. Not that they would want to pretend that all was well, either.

"Maybe he just got really wrapped up in what they're doing," Joey suggested, "and didn't get the chance to say anything."

"Yeah," Tristan agreed with a nod. "Maybe they're making some big archaeological find and Ishizu wanted it secret, and it's taking a long time to see about it."

"Yeah. . . ." Mokuba nodded as well, though more slowly. "You guys are probably right, just . . ." He sighed, looking up to face them again.

"I feel really bad that Marik and I haven't spent as much time together lately," he said. "I know we've both been busy, but . . . I've been being with kids my own age a lot, and sometimes I've felt guilty thinking I didn't make enough time for Marik when I could have. I've wanted to, and sometimes when he's been free we've done things . . ."

"What more could you do?" Joey said. "I mean, you can't hang out with him all the time."

"Well, other times I've had to cancel stuff we were going to do," Mokuba said. "Not just when I was with the other kids, but sometimes when it was Kaiba Corp stuff. Something like that happened right before he left. And now I can't contact him and . . ." His shoulders slumped. "I'm just worried."

Yugi bit his lip. He wanted to tell Mokuba that everything would be okay and that Marik would probably reply to the email soon, but he did not know that he fully believed it. If they had been investigating something that could be a threat, or even if it had been a normal archaeological dig, there was always the chance that something could have gone wrong.

But he was saved from replying as the bell on the door jangled. "Hey guys," Téa greeted as she came in. Her dancing shoes were slung over her shoulder.

"Hey Téa," Joey answered.

She quickly took in everyone's glum expressions. "What's wrong?" she frowned.

Yugi sighed. "Marik's been away on that trip with Ishizu and Rishid, and Mokuba hasn't been able to get in touch with him," he said. Together he and the others filled in the details, while Téa listened.

She crossed her arms, her own eyes becoming concerned. It was not sounding good. Marik would not leave Mokuba hanging like that if he could help it. He had always been very thoughtful of his young friend.

"If you really think something might be wrong, Mokuba, maybe you should see if Kaiba will try to find out where they are," she said.

"Yeah . . ." Mokuba looked down at the small computer screen. "He's got so much work to do that I don't like to bother him when there probably really isn't anything wrong. I was trying to look into some stuff myself, but I haven't got anywhere."

Yugi gave him a kind look. "I'm sure Kaiba would be willing to see about it if he knows you're worried," he said. "And just in case there is something wrong, we should try everything we can think of to find them. After all, Marik did act like he'd be able to keep in touch with you, and so far he hasn't."

Mokuba looked up again. "You're right, Yugi," he said. Determination flashed in his blue-gray eyes. "I'm going to go talk to Seto right now."

"Good goin'!" Joey grinned, giving a thumbs-up sign.

"Let us know how it goes," Tristan put in.

"I will!" Mokuba smiled, turning to hurry out the door. "Thanks, everyone!" And with a wave he was gone, the bell jingling again as the door swung shut.

Téa looked after him as he ran up the street. "I hope everything really is okay," she said. Mokuba would be devastated if Marik was hurt, and of course she and the others would be upset too. Marik had become a good friend during their many misadventures, even though he still tended to keep to himself and was sometimes distant.

"It's probably fine," Joey shrugged, glancing to the open newspaper on the counter. "I mean, nobody's been trying to take over the world lately. The biggest news today is some business dinner that's coming up. All the big-wigs are comin' to town."

"Even people like Siegfried von Schroider?" Tristan wondered, idly looking to the article too.

"Yep," Joey said. "Kaiba's not gonna be happy about that. Not that I really want to see that pink-haired freak again either," he muttered, mostly to himself.

"It looks like those new business people will be coming too," Tristan commented. "It's talking about those guys from Fragmented Triangle and their spokesman saying they'll be there. They're 'looking forward to meeting other intelligent-minded business men and women.'"

Joey shook his head. "Seriously, is the name of that place for real?" he said. "What kind of a name is Fragmented Triangle?!"

"It's weird," Tristan agreed, shaking his head. "But those guys seem weird, too, so I guess it fits." He pointed to a picture in the paper. "That's the spokesman. He's the head of the board of directors or something."

Yugi and Téa came over to look as well, mostly out of curiosity. The man in the photograph had very pale skin, contrasting sharply with the stringy black hair that went past his shoulders. He bore a quiet smile that seemed more like a smirk as he spoke to the press.

"'Azazel Rakesh,'" Joey read the caption. He made a face. "That's a mouthful."

"No kidding." Tristan leaned back. "And I heard the company president doesn't come out much. Nobody even knew his name for a while."

"That's weird too," Téa said. "Does anyone know it now?"

"Dalton or something," Tristan shrugged. "I don't think he has a last name."

Joey straightened up, giving his friend a suspicious look. "So how come you know so much about these people anyway, Tristan?" he asked. "I didn't know you were into business and that kinda thing."

"I'm not," Tristan retorted. "I just thought it'd be a good idea to know more about them, since the last company that popped up out of nowhere tried to get the world swallowed up by a giant sea snake."

"Point taken," Joey mumbled.

Yugi nodded. "That is a good idea, Tristan," he said. "I know we looked into things a little bit when that other company showed up first, but I don't remember really finding anything out about Fragmented Triangle when they came along."

"That other company has a crazy name too," Joey said. "Come on—Jenova Corp? What's it even mean?" He threw his hands into the air. "The company president was using Jenova as his last name, and then he just stopped doing that. So both of those guys only have one name?"

"It is a weird coincidence," Yugi mused. "And I know some of the reporters are saying the companies are rivals."

"Well, if they're not trying to take over the world, I don't really care," Téa said.

"Yeah," Tristan agreed. "They can have their corporate dogfights or whatever, as long as they don't get everybody mixed up in them."

"And as long as they don't hurt anybody," Téa added. "Even each other."

With these remarks they seemed to be thinking of the fiasco at the Grand Prix. It still seemed appalling, the lengths von Schroider had been willing to go in order to damage Kaiba Corp and ruin Seto Kaiba. They had met von Schroider a time or so since then, and though his arrogant personality had not changed, it had been obvious that he cared about his brother and would not knowingly place him in any more awkward moral dilemmas. But he was still not one of Joey's favorite people, and Tristan and Téa were suspicious of him on varying levels.

"Oh wow!" Yugi suddenly exclaimed, startling everyone.

"What is it, Yug?" Joey demanded after jumping a mile.

"I forgot, I was supposed to go pick up some stuff for Grampa at the drug store!" Yugi said. "I was just about to go when Mokuba came in." He looked to the clock. "I think I can still make it, if I go right now."

"We'll come with you," Tristan offered. "It might go faster that way."

Yugi smiled. "Thanks, Tristan," he said, and then paused in realization. "Oh, but someone needs to watch the store, too . . ."

"I'll do it," Téa volunteered. "I just came from dance practice, so I'd be okay with just staying put for a while."

"That would be great, Téa," Yugi said in relief. "I feel terrible I forgot." He hurried to the door.

"Hey, after what Mokuba was sayin', who wouldn't forget?" Joey said as he and Tristan followed.

"We'll be back soon, Téa!" Tristan called back as they left.

"Okay," Téa answered with a wave.

As the door closed, she idly pulled the newspaper over to look at it herself. The business dinner was going to be the following night, according to the article. Not that it would be of any importance to them; they certainly would not be going. Even though it would be interesting to know what would happen with the people from the new companies.

A frown crossed her features as her gaze drifted back to the picture of Azazel Rakesh. Behind him, near the side of the building he was standing by, there was a weird silhouette. She brought the paper closer. She had to be seeing things; it was probably just a shadow cast by some camera equipment. But if she did not know better, she would say that it almost looked like a small person with a pointed hat.

She set the paper aside with a shake of her head. The last thing she wanted to do was to chase after imaginary elves. Not everything had to be something out of the ordinary. It had to be a trick of the light.

Her frown deepened. She was starting to sound like Kaiba. It must be because she had been around him so much on all the crazy mysteries that had involved them, but still, she was not sure that she liked it. She and Kaiba had clashed so many times, though they had also helped each other and had formed an odd sort of alliance. Maybe it was because of Mokuba, and maybe not, but it was nice to not have to feel like she and the others were practically at war with Kaiba all the time. Somewhere underneath his cold persona, there was a kind and good soul that all of them had glimpsed through the years.

She sighed, looking out at the oncoming twilight. She was thinking weird things tonight. It was not a bad thing to try to think of explanations other than the supernatural. She always had tried to be a logical person, after all. Maybe she was just afraid that if she sounded like Kaiba with his brand of logic, she would start sounding like him in other ways too.

Or maybe she was afraid of what it could mean if some of Kaiba's personality was leaving its impression on her.

She pulled the paper over to look again.

. . . It really did look like a small person with a pointed hat.

* * *

Yugi and the others were halfway to the pharmacy when Joey walked around a corner much too fast. "Hey watch it!" he exclaimed an instant later.

Tristan rolled his eyes. "Don't tell me he ran into Kaiba again," he said, while Yugi sighed and rubbed his forehead.

But as they rounded the corner as well, it was a much different sight that greeted them. Joey was standing and looking dazedly at a man wearing a brown business suit. The man was coolly bending down to pick up some scattered papers, his stringy raven hair falling in front of his pale face.

Yugi stared. "That's the man from the picture in the newspaper!" he exclaimed. "Azazel Rakesh!"

"It is!" Tristan realized. "Trust Joey to run into him." He looked to Joey, who was now crouching down to help gather the papers.

"The least you could do is say you're sorry," Joey frowned, handing several sheets of paper to the other. He also recognized the man from the picture, but that did not stop him from speaking his mind. Being polite had never been one of his strong points.

"You were the one not watching where you were going," was the calm response. Azazel reached to accept the documents, his right hand catching an unusual shine from the street lamp that was just turning on overhead. Joey could not help but stare at the appendage. It looked so stiff and unnatural, not like a real hand.

"And you could say thanks," he said, trying to shake off his astonishment at the sight. Why would a businessman have a prosthetic hand? The workload would be stressful, but not dangerous. Surely there would not be any paper cut serious enough to bring about this result.

"Thank you," Azazel consented as he straightened up. He leafed through the papers, making certain that they were in order before replacing them in the file folder.

Joey stood up as well. "So, you're the guy from that Fragmented Triangle place, aren't you?" he said. "Rakesh or something like that?"

"Azazel Rakesh," he agreed, his voice never betraying its smooth tones. His ice-blue gaze traveled from Joey to the other two, as if silently questioning their presence.

Yugi stepped forward. "Hi," he greeted with a friendly smile. "I'm Yugi Muto, and these are my friends Joey Wheeler and Tristan Taylor."

"Hello," Tristan said with a half-wave.

Azazel gave a calm nod of acknowledgment. "I see that my reputation precedes me," he commented, "but I'm not finding your names familiar." He moved to take a step past them.

"Not familiar?!" Joey cried in indignation. "Yugi's the Duel Monsters champion! And I should be right behind him."

Azazel quirked an eyebrow. "Duel Monsters?" he repeated. "That's why I wouldn't know you then. Unlike so many in this town, I haven't acquired an interest in your card game. Fragmented Triangle is in the general electronics business." He placed the folder under his arm. "Now if you will excuse me, I have somewhere I need to be." With that he walked past, crossing the street to the next block as he continued his journey.

Joey frowned after him. "Well, how do you like that guy?" he said.

"Not everyone's into Duel Monsters, Joey," Yugi said. He was not that bothered by not being recognized. It happened so much of the time that it was really a nice change. Anyway, he did not feel that he deserved the title of Duel Monsters champion. It was Atem who had been the King of Games.

"It's not that," Joey protested. "It's his whole attitude! The guy acted like a snob!"

Tristan shrugged. "The business world, I guess. It's not just Kaiba." He turned towards the direction of the drug store. "But he did say thanks. Come on, let's get going or we won't make it before closing time."

Yugi nodded. "I've really got to get that stuff for Grampa," he said, following Tristan's lead.

Joey trailed after them. "Okay, but listen to this!" he said as they walked. "The guy's right hand isn't real!"

Tristan blinked. "You mean it's a prosthetic?" he said.

"Yeah!" Joey nodded. "But come on, isn't that weird? Why would a businessman have a fake hand?"

"There could be a lot of reasons, Joey," Yugi said. "That doesn't make him suspicious."

Joey sighed. "Maybe not," he conceded, "but companies don't just pop up out of nowhere without a reason!"

"Now that is weird," Tristan admitted. "I can't explain that."

They walked for another block in relative silence. But then a sudden yelp from Joey nearly caused Tristan and Yugi to collide into each other. "_Now_ what, man?!" Tristan cried, turning to look in exasperation.

Yugi also followed Tristan's gaze. Joey was frozen, pointing a shaking finger at something ambling down the street. And Yugi could only stare.

It looked like a plump little man walking sideways.

"G-gnome!" Joey choked out, continuing to point at it. As they observed, the whatever-it-was rounded a corner and vanished into the night.


	3. The Neo Orichalcos

**Notes: Thanks to Kaze and Lisa for plot help! The secretary's name is a nod to an old RP that I miss very much.  
**

* * *

**Chapter Three**

It was fully dark by the time the door to the Game Shop flew open, admitting Yugi, Joey, and Tristan carrying sacks from the drug store. Téa, still looking over the newspaper, blinked in surprise at their behavior. Joey in particular was jumpy as he set his share down on the counter, and Tristan and Yugi looked uneasy as well.

"What's wrong now, guys?" Téa frowned.

"It was crazy!" Joey exclaimed, wildly gesturing with his hands. "There was this creepy little guy going down the street sideways, and then he just disappeared!"

"Unless it was never there in the first place," Tristan said. Setting his bag down on a chair, he crossed his arms and simply surveyed the scene.

Joey glowered. "Whaddya talkin' about—of course it was there!" he snapped. "We all saw it! You even found what looked like tiny dusty footprints!"

"It was probably some kid playing a joke," Tristan said, "and it just _looked_ like he disappeared."

"Then why'd the footprints stop in the middle of the road?" Joey retorted. "Huh? Tell me that, wise guy!"

Yugi, who was heading to the stairs with his bags, could only sigh. "Come on, guys," he protested. "Okay, something was there. We know that. And right at the place where the footprints stopped, there wasn't anything else around. It's not like there were bushes to jump in or something."

"There! You see?" Joey smirked. "Yugi agrees with me."

Tristan sighed. He was about to make a retort when Téa interrupted.

"So what did this weird guy look like?" she asked.

"Like a gnome!" Joey exclaimed, turning his attention to her. "You know, the weird things people have in their gardens. Only it was bigger! Well, in a gnome way."

Téa looked back down at the paper. "A gnome with a pointed hat?" she wondered.

"Yeah!" Joey said, and then blinked. "How'd you know, Téa?"

She held up the page. "Because something like that is in here, too," she declared. "Look, it's right there behind the Rakesh guy."

Joey and Tristan leaned in to see. "Hey, you're right!" Tristan said. "What is that thing?!"

"It's probably the same gnome!" Joey said. "Unless he has a whole army of friends by now!"

Téa shook her head. "An army of gnomes?" she repeated. "To do what?"

"Maybe they're hoping to recruit more people to that travel agency," Tristan suggested. "You know, the one with the garden gnome commercials."

". . . At least that's more sensible than them trying to take over the world," Téa sighed.

"Hey, why not?" Joey frowned. "Maybe they're tired of being oppressed. Or something."

Tristan could only give him a Look. "Only you would come up with something like that," he sighed.

"What's that supposed to mean?!" Joey shot back.

"Why don't you figure it out yourself?" Tristan retorted.

Yugi, who had gone upstairs while all of this was being discussed, was now coming back down. He could only inwardly groan at the sight of the conflict. "We don't even know there really are gnomes," he said. "It still could have been some kind of weird trick. Kids like to do stuff like that."

"Okay, but how do you explain the magician's act?" Joey said. "That's not something that just any kid could do!"

"Maybe there even are gnomes," Tristan broke in, "but who cares? They're probably not going to cause any trouble."

"That's right," Téa agreed. "I haven't ever heard of a gnome uprising, after all."

"That doesn't mean they couldn't exist!" Joey cried.

Téa set the paper back on the counter. It really was weird, whether they were peaceful gnomes or not. It was one thing to play a trick on some high school kids. But it was quite another to sneak a gnome into a picture at a business press conference. It would be too outlandish if the events were not connected in some way. Two gnome sightings in one day was bizarre enough as it was, without them being completely independent of each other.

"Let's not worry about it right now," she said.

"Yeah," Tristan chimed in. "When we start hearing about gnomes breaking into houses and stealing from people, then maybe we should worry."

"It'll probably come to that!" Joey ranted. "Maybe the Rakesh guy is even involved with it!"

Téa gave him a look. "Why would a businessman be interested in gnomes?"

"It could be a weird hobby!" Joey said. "The guy's weird enough anyway, so it fits."

"We forgot to tell you, Téa, we met him too," Tristan put in, rubbing the back of his neck. "I guess he was kind of out there, but what riles Joey the most is that the names Yugi Muto and Joey Wheeler don't mean anything to him." He smirked.

"Hey, we're big news around here by now!" Joey protested. "I just want Yugi to get his due."

"And for you to get yours," Tristan muttered.

"It's really okay, Joey," Yugi said.

Joey barreled on, "And it was right after we saw him and started walking again that we saw the gnome!"

"Actually, I thought it was a few blocks away," Tristan commented.

"Well . . ." Joey gritted his teeth, trying to think of how to pursue his argument. "We were going in the direction Rakesh came from! He probably left the gnome where we saw it!" He pointed at the picture. "Isn't it too crazy that they keep turning up where he is if he isn't involved?!"

"There could even be a logical explanation for all of this, Joey," Yugi said.

Joey messed up his hair. "Gah! Why am I the only one who's thinking of the danger here?!" he cried in frustration. "Garden art pieces are getting up and walking through the city! There's something wrong with that picture!"

Téa shook her head and sighed. "Tristan, what do you mean about Rakesh being 'out there'?" she asked. It was probably best to just ignore Joey's ranting for now. Of course something strange was happening, but she was not willing to consider the invasion of the gnomes just yet.

Tristan shrugged. "He was pretty smooth, but in a really vague way, like his mind was off somewhere else," he said. "But unlike Kaiba would've done, he thanked Joey after Joey picked up his stuff that fell and handed it back to him." Then he frowned. "I think he may have just been mocking, though."

"And the hand!" Joey put in. "You can't forget that!"

"Hand?" Téa blinked.

"He has a prosthetic hand," Tristan said. "Joey thinks it's further proof that something isn't right with the guy. You know, because a businessman wouldn't be getting into stuff that dangerous."

Téa crossed her arms. "Just look at Kaiba," she said. "He's always getting into something dangerous because someone's after the company."

"Yeah!" Tristan agreed. "So maybe the same kinda thing was happening with this guy, and he wasn't as lucky as Kaiba."

Joey glowered at having another argument of his shot down. "Maybe, maybe not," he said. "Or maybe he was getting into something he shouldn't have been."

Yugi sighed. "I don't know what to think about any of this," he said. "And then there's Mokuba's problem of Marik being missing, too." He looked towards the glass door, out at the night. "I just hope something really bad isn't starting again."

". . . Do you think we should drop in on Kaiba and see if he's found anything out about Marik?" Tristan wondered. "Mokuba really was worried about it."

"Well, he hasn't called, so Kaiba probably hasn't had any luck yet," Yugi said.

"If he did anything about it at all," Joey said. "He might've just figured there wasn't anything wrong and he didn't want to poke his nose into their business."

"That's true," Téa said slowly. "Maybe he told Mokuba they should wait longer before doing anything."

"After Marik promised to contact Mokuba and didn't, that should be enough right there to show that something could be wrong," Joey said. "I mean, the guy doesn't ignore Mokuba."

"I thought you were saying everything was probably fine," Tristan observed, crossing his arms.

"Yeah, well, that was before all this other weird stuff came into the picture," Joey retorted.

Yugi glanced to the clock. "It's almost nine," he observed. "If Kaiba was going to try finding anything out, he might use the supercomputer at their home instead of staying at KaibaCorp. If Mokuba doesn't call by tomorrow morning, why don't we pay a visit to KaibaCorp and see how things are going?"

Joey nodded. "Fine with me," he said.

Tristan and Téa concurred.

* * *

Aside from the strangeness of the gnomes, and concern over what was happening with the Ishtars, nothing directly threatening or dangerous took place that night. Joey drove Tristan and Téa home in his jalopy when they left the Game Shop, which seemed to be a more immediate worry with the clanks and groans and sputters it made, but in the end they all made it to their homes safe and sound.

The following morning, however, as Téa rubbed the sleep from her eyes and headed into the kitchen, evidence of a new disaster became clear.

"Good morning," Mrs. Gardner smiled from where she was preparing food at the stove.

"Morning, Mom." Téa tried to smile, even though she still felt half-asleep. She looked to the table. "Morning, Dad."

Mr. Gardner, a prominent lawyer in Domino City, nodded. He was frowning at the newspaper, so involved in whatever he was reading that he barely noticed Téa's entrance. As he read, he raised his glass of orange juice to his lips in an almost automatic manner.

Téa frowned. "What is it?" she asked, trying to read over her father's shoulder.

He shook his head with a sigh, setting the paper back on the table. "I just don't understand what goes on in these parts lately," he said. "Do you remember when all of those people were losing that card game of your friends', and they were being found comatose?"

Téa swallowed. "Um, yeah," she said. "That was really weird." Of course she had never told her parents of her and the others' full involvement in what had happened. It all sounded too ridiculous to be true, especially when she had tried to write about it in her journal. _My posterity will wonder what kind of a weird place I lived in,_ she had thought to herself, _if they don't think I belonged in a mental hospital._

"Well, it's happening again," Mr. Gardner declared. "It's right there in the paper." He tapped a paragraph with his forefinger. "Two people were found in that condition near Portland, and two more in San Francisco."

Now Téa's eyes grew wide. "Huh?!" she exclaimed, grabbing up the paper to see for herself. Accompanying the article were pictures the reporters had taken of the people laying in the road or on the grass. And as she skimmed over the paragraphs, the story continued to be far too familiar. The people could not be aroused from their states. There was no indication of what had caused it, either.

"That isn't all," Mrs. Gardner spoke. Now she looked worried. "Also in San Francisco, someone was seen walking around in a very strange, dazed condition. Reportedly he kept talking about serving the Neo-Orichalcos and that all members' wishes would come true if they followed their leaders. It sounds like a cult."

Téa paled. "What happened with him?" she asked.

"Someone asked him if he was alright, and he laughed and said he'd never been better," Mr. Gardner said. "Then he shoved the person aside and ran off down the street. They haven't been able to find him since."

"But they're trying, since he might know something about what's happened to the others," Mrs. Gardner added. She looked to Téa. "Do you and your friends know anything about this at all?" she asked. "It always seems like you get into such horribly dangerous situations."

_You don't even know a tenth of it, Mom,_ Téa thought to herself. Aloud she said truthfully, "This is the first I've heard of it." She scanned the paper over again before placing it back on the table. "I don't know what's going on."

Mr. Gardner shook his head. "I can't figure out what's happening to this world," he sighed.

Téa could not, either. After breakfast she immediately hurried up to her room to call Yugi, only to find that he had already left a message on her phone to call him. And Joey and Tristan were each wondering if she was alright. It did not take long for her to call the Game Shop and agree to meet at KaibaCorp. Mokuba had not called yet, and in light of this new development, something really might be terribly wrong with Marik. Whether Kaiba liked it or not, they were going to talk with him about it.

* * *

Seto was typing away at his keyboard when his secretary Scarlet informed him that Yugi Muto and his friends had come to see him. He sighed, leaning back in the chair as he massaged his eyes. He could just imagine what they wanted to discuss, and he was not in the mood for it. The morning paper had put him in a very sour state of mind, and Mokuba was practically in a panic.

It did not help that he had not had any luck finding where Marik and his siblings had gone. Ishizu must have not wanted them to be found, which was not a comforting thought. They may have gone to investigate this Neo-Orichalcos, if they had known of it before now. And if Ishizu was still insistent about her hocus-pocus knowledge, or if someone had tipped her off, then they likely had known. Everything fit together too well.

"Sir?" Scarlet's voice broke into his thoughts. "What should I tell them?"

Seto let out an exasperated sigh. "Send them in," he said, and returned to his typing.

He did not bother to look up when the door opened a moment later. "I'm guessing it's pointless to ask if you've seen the news," he said.

"Of course we've seen it!" Joey burst out, before anyone else could reply. "Somebody's started up the Orichalcos again!"

"I've already checked in with Dartz," Seto said. "He's as baffled as all of you. He isn't very happy, either. Someone would have to be an idiot to meddle with the Orichalcos." Seto had been forced to accept that something supernatural had been happening in the past, but even if he had not, he would still recognize that nothing good had come of the Orichalcos. It was one of the most irritating experiences he had undergone since meeting Yugi.

"What if it's one of those new companies that popped up?!" Joey cried.

"That could be possible, Wheeler, except for one thing." At last Seto stopped typing and looked up. "The only people who would know about the Orichalcos are the ones who were involved with it before. Dartz doesn't know any of the new businessmen."

Tristan frowned. ". . . So it would have to be one of Dartz's former crew?" he said.

"You win the prize, Taylor. The only question is, Who."

Yugi looked worried. "There were others in Dartz's organization besides the bikers, even though they were the most prominent," he said. He had been thinking of these things as well, but had been reluctant to suggest the possibility. He did not want to think that any of the bikers would return to their old ways. They had all seemed to fully reject the Orichalcos and everything connected with it.

"I've already tried to contact them as well," Seto said. "They are not answering their phone. And their house looks vacated."

Téa frowned. "So you think they're responsible for the Neo-Orichalcos?" she said.

"They're the most logical suspects," Seto replied. "Only they knew the full extent of what was going on at Paradius. And the fact that they have seemed to disappear makes them appear more suspicious."

"But what reason would they have?" Tristan protested. "They left the Orichalcos behind."

"Who knows. Maybe they didn't leave it as far behind as we thought." Seto's icy eyes narrowed. "You can't trust anyone."

Yugi sighed, deciding for the moment to not address Seto's pessimism. "It almost sounds like this Neo-Orichalcos has different goals than Doom," he said. "Someone was seen talking about all the members getting wishes."

Téa nodded. "My parents were talking about that," she said. "That's really weird. Doom wanted to create a new world. It sounds more like the Neo-Orichalcos is okay with the one we already have."

"Don't be so sure." Seto looked at her. "Maybe some of them want to use their wishes to make a new world. We're dealing with unpredictable people."

"I still think maybe the new companies know something!" Joey declared. "At least that Fragmented Triangle one." They had met the promotions director from Jenova Corp recently, when they had assisted in searching for the president after he had been taken prisoner by a psychopath. The promotions director was friendly, and Joey found himself not being that suspicious of him—even though he was annoyed by the president's aloof behavior.

"If we could get into that business dinner tonight, we could try to spy on them and find something out!" Tristan put in now, looking to Seto.

The businessman frowned. "You're not suggesting I let you come with me," he objected.

"You're our free ticket in there," Tristan said.

Seto snorted in derision. "And just why would I allow you to follow me into a fancy hotel? You wouldn't have any concept of how to behave." Visions of Joey and Tristan discovering the buffet were enough to make him recoil in horror. Yugi and Téa he was not concerned about, but letting Joey and Tristan roam free at a business dinner would be worse than twenty bulls in a china shop.

"Of course we could behave!" Joey snapped. "And we'll find a way to get in even if you won't take us!"

"Joey!" Yugi exclaimed. This was not something they had discussed. Joey and Tristan must have talked about it on the way to KaibaCorp, since they had come together. Maybe it would be a good thing to get into the dinner, but Yugi did not want to inconvenience Seto in order to do it.

Seto looked at Joey, unimpressed. What would be worse, to have them along as his guests or for them to crash the dinner and be recognized as people he knew? Either situation could be quite uncomfortable and put him in a bad position.

"Never mind that, Kaiba," Yugi hurried to say, embarrassed. "We wouldn't expect you to take us there."

"Maybe you could just try to see if those guys act weird when you're there," Téa said, "like if you talk to them about business." As she spoke, she shot Joey and Tristan a warning look for them to not protest.

"Maybe," Seto said. He had become annoyed by this visit some time ago and was not feeling in the mood to do them any favors. If he thought Fragmented Triangle actually did pose a problem, he might be more willing. But they seemed harmless enough.

Yugi could sense Seto's vexation, too. A change of subject was in order. They had still not gotten to the original matter that they had been going to ask about, and he did not want them to be dismissed before that happened.

"Kaiba, did Mokuba tell you about Marik?" he asked.

"Yes, he told me," Seto said, the edge not having slipped out of his voice. "I couldn't find anything out. Ishizu must not have wanted their location to be learned." He paused, looking hard at Yugi. "Or else they were also victims of this Neo-Orichalcos."

Yugi swallowed. He had started to wonder if that could be true after seeing the morning paper. Mokuba was likely worrying the same.

"We have to find out!" Téa declared. "If it's true, then we have to help them!"

"And the only way to do that would be to stop whoever's behind this," Tristan frowned.

"And that's your department," Seto said. "So if you all wouldn't mind, I have a company to run." With that he turned back to his computer, hoping to signal the end of the conversation.

"Hey, what if the bikers were victims of the Neo-Orichalcos too?" Joey said suddenly. "That'd explain why their house is vacant!"

"Would any of the underlings have the smarts to create a new cult?" Seto answered. Not that he was impressed by the bikers following Dartz, but some of those of lower rank than them had often followed even more blindly, doing just as they were told and not seeming to be there for much reason other than wanting to fight. Some others had originally joined with better goals in mind, though they had become corrupted by the power too.

"Some of them probably would," Téa chimed in, also wanting to give the bikers the benefit of a doubt.

And she had the feeling that Joey was concerned not so much with the bikers as he was with Mai. If the bikers had recreated the Orichalcos, then maybe Mai was with them. She had not been around much since Doom, though she and Joey had reconciled when she had returned to Domino for a short time. Surely she would not join the Neo-Orichalcos, even if the bikers wanted her to. Not that any of them would want that, except maybe Valon. Neither Alister or Raphael had liked Mai that well.

"I'm sure you can figure something out," Seto said now. "You always seem to."

It was obvious that he wanted to be left alone. And Yugi intended to do the polite thing and leave him be.

"We'll let you know when we come up with something," he said, starting to turn to leave.

"You do that." Seto began to type again.

"Let's go, guys," Yugi directed, walking to the door.

Reluctantly, the others followed.

As they left Seto's office and headed down the hall, Joey's determination to get into the business dinner had not waned. From Tristan's expression, he felt the same. They would go even if they had to crash the party and pretend to be businessmen themselves.

Even though that would probably fail miserably.


	4. The Business Dinner, Part 1

**Notes: I had such fun with this chapter. The Jenova Corp crew are not mine. They are just visiting from another fandom. I do have a reason why they're on Earth, but that won't be important in this story. If anyone is familiar with the characters, the president is sane here, and not a threat to our YGO friends.**

* * *

**Chapter Four**

The business dinner was being held in the local Marriott hotel, starting at seven that evening. Many of the invited business people and their guests began to arrive before that, so that by seven there was quite a crowd. The tycoons milled about, visiting with old friends and business partners and hoping to close new deals before the night was through. Others kept more to themselves, speaking only when approached.

Seto preferred to be among the latter, though there were times when he knew that he had to approach first. It was very rare that there actually was anyone he wanted to talk with; most business people he was either indifferent to or did not like. And it had been a while since he had found anyone with whom he wanted to make a business deal.

By and large he despised the dinners. So many of the participants would adopt a facade of being friendly and sociable, mostly out of greed because they were hoping to secure a deal. Seto could always tell when they were doing that. It was not only a trait shared by those in the business world, and he had seen it far too often while growing up. Even some of the young kids in the orphanage had behaved that way, when they had wanted to make superficial friends in order to secure things they needed. They had learned because they felt it was the only way to survive.

Mokuba had wished that Seto would not have to attend this dinner. The revelations in the paper had only made him more apprehensive and worried for Marik's safety, and he had not wanted to be alone. He had not really wanted to spend time with the kids his age, either. After all, he did not feel comfortable telling them about what was wrong. He was not that close to them; they were mainly acquaintances to do fun things with, not people with whom to share information about a creepy cult that was stealing people's souls.

There were at least two of them with whom Mokuba might grow close enough in the future to discuss such heavy matters. The one girl, Sun, was very serious and was probably capable of understanding, but as of the current time she was also quite unsociable and usually wanted to be alone. And one of the boys also acted as though he had seen much more than was common for someone his age. He seemed to accept the paranormal, as well, and Mokuba had been trying to spend some time with him alone, to get to know him better. It was gradually happening, but feeling able to talk about Marik's plight or the Neo-Orichalcos was still something for a time to come.

So Seto had brought Mokuba along, using the reason of him being the vice-president. Mokuba had not really wanted to come to the dinner, either, but it was better than being home worrying. So he smiled and carried Seto's briefcase and said Hello to the people who stopped to talk to Seto.

Now, as Seto scanned the room, he noticed a well-built man turning away from the punch table, looking what could only be described as ungodly bored with his surroundings. Seto recognized him as the president of Jenova Corp. He was vaguely interested in knowing more about their virtual reality technology, since it was renowned as being amazing and rivaled even Industrial Illusions as far as being realistic. If the rumors were not unfounded, Seto might want to look into discussing a business deal. He could use some of their advanced technology for his upcoming virtual reality game.

"I need to talk to this man," he said to Mokuba.

Mokuba nodded, blinking wide and surprised eyes at the stern businessman as Seto began to walk towards him. Gripping the handle of the briefcase, Mokuba hurried to follow.

"Good evening," Seto said as he stopped in front of the other.

Green eyes focused on him, flickering slightly in surprise before becoming veiled again. "Good evening," he returned with a nod.

Seto held out his hand. "Seto Kaiba, Kaiba Corporations," he introduced himself.

The bigger man took hold of Seto's hand, shaking it firmly. "Sephiroth, Jenova Corporations," he responded.

Seto nodded. "And this is my vice-president, Mokuba Kaiba," he said, indicating the raven-haired boy standing next to him. Mokuba stepped forward, nodding and hoping he did not look as nervous as he felt.

"Hi," he greeted.

Sephiroth nodded to him, but did not speak. Clearly he wondered what a child was doing as the vice-president, but he did not find it his business and did not ask. He looked back to Seto.

"You've made quite a name for your company, with its technology," Seto said. "Is it truly as impressive as rumor would have others believe?"

"What are the contents of these rumors?" Sephiroth returned. It was a polite response, not automatically assuming highly of himself or his company. And it was not said in a knowing, almost arrogantly smooth way, as von Schroider would do.

"They claim that your technology is even better and more realistic than Industrial Illusions'," Seto answered. "I've heard that even the military had commissioned you to create the technology for some new exercises they're planning."

"That is correct." Sephiroth looked at him. "Industrial Illusions is a gaming company, aren't they?"

"Yes." Seto nodded. "They invented the Duel Monsters strategy game." He paused. "And Kaiba Corporations perfected their three-dimensional holographic technology."

"Then perhaps it should have been said that Jenova Corporations' technology is more realistic than Kaiba Corporations'," Sephiroth commented. "I have seen some of your holograms. They are impressive, as far as they go."

Mokuba had the feeling that this man did not deliver compliments lightly, or very often at all. At the same time, he was not sure how Seto would react to Sephiroth proclaiming that Jenova Corp technology was indeed better than KaibaCorp's. He looked to his brother, shifting position.

"'As far as they go'?" Seto repeated, no visible hint of annoyance or irritation on his features. "Perhaps you would like to show me how much further your own technology goes."

"Perhaps." Sephiroth nodded. "When would be a good time for you?"

As they conversed, Mokuba's mind began to wander. It was hard not to stare at Sephiroth's hair, for one thing. It rivaled only Dartz's hair in length, and it was silver like Pegasus's—but a darker shade. Obviously he took great pride in his hair, to keep it so long and so well groomed. Mokuba had seen pictures of him in newspapers, and on TV, but it was not the same as seeing him in person.

Mokuba turned a bit, looking around at the other people in the room. He had not seen von Schroider yet, which he was perfectly fine with, but Dartz was over near the opposite corner. Somehow he had gotten roped into a conversation, which he seemed less than pleased about. And over at the doorway, Pegasus was coming in. Mokuba gave an inward sigh. That was all they needed.

Then Mokuba's eyes widened and his jaw dropped in disbelief. Coming in along with Pegasus were Yugi, Joey, Tristan, and Téa. Joey was tugging at his tie, wanting to be rid of it, while Yugi looked embarrassed and Tristan was trying to play it cool. Téa, wearing a long and formal pink dress, kept herself composed—and tried to walk as far away from Joey as possible. Pegasus just seemed amused.

Mokuba shook his head. They really had been determined to get into this dinner, to go to Pegasus and ask if he would take them as his guests. And Seto would not be happy.

Somebody else had noticed their entrance, too. The promotions director from Jenova Corp suddenly appeared from nowhere, heading in their direction.

"'Lo!" he called with a wave. His naturally wild black spikes bounced as he hurried over to them.

Pegasus smiled. "Why, Zacky-boy," he greeted. "How good it is to see you. I do hope you and the others are well."

Zack grinned, seeming to take the nickname in stride. "We're great!" he said, and looked to Yugi and the others. "Wasn't expecting to see you guys here," he chirped.

"Yeah, well, Pegasus invited us, and when he'd said there'd be free food, we couldn't say no," Joey smirked, delivering their cover story.

Zack smirked too. "The food's definitely the best part of these things," he declared.

Pegasus nodded. "Oh, indeed. And meeting old friends. It's been so long since I've had the chance to visit with Yugi-boy and the others. I thought it would be the perfect opportunity." He clapped a hand on Yugi's shoulder as he spoke, prompting Yugi to start in surprise.

"So you're friends then?" Zack said.

Tristan gave a sheepish smile. "We . . . go way back," he said, and the others nodded. Pegasus was not what they would call a friend, but at least he was not currently their enemy. And he had certainly come in handy tonight.

Zack nodded. "I sure appreciated your help when Seph was missing," he said.

"Don't mention it!" Joey said with a wave of his hand. "We're always helpin' people out and getting mixed up in mysteries." He had half a mind to say that was what they were doing right now, but that was probably not the best idea. He wanted to see if he could find out how Zack felt about Fragmented Triangle, but he would either have to be subtle or else wait for Pegasus to wander off somewhere. Or both.

Tristan decided to take the incentive. "I haven't seen anyone from Fragmented Triangle show up here yet," he said.

Zack looked a bit uneasy. "They'll probably come," he said, shrugging it off. "Why?"

Tristan shrugged too. "We were just wondering about them," he said. "Joey met the Rakesh guy last night. Bumped into him on the street."

"Hey, he wasn't watching where he was going!" Joey protested.

"Like you do," Téa sighed.

Zack blinked in surprise. "You met him?" he said, looking to Joey.

"Yeah," Joey said, taking confidence. "He was really weird!"

"Now, now, Joey-boy, is that a nice thing to say?" Pegasus interjected, his voice light. "Even if it is true."

Zack crossed his arms, ignoring Pegasus. "Weird, how?" he asked.

"I dunno." Joey wildly gestured. "He just seemed like he wasn't interested in anything except his company. And he was really vague."

Zack noticeably relaxed. "Oh. That's all? A lot of people are like that," he said.

"'That's all'?" Téa repeated. "Did you think there'd be more?"

"Nope!" Zack said. "I just wondered if there was, since that doesn't seem so weird to me. Must be because I hang around so many serious guys." He smirked.

"Yeah, maybe," Tristan frowned.

"I think I see Cloud over there," Zack announced. "He's motioning for me to come, so I'll go see what's up. Hope to see you again before this is over!" He waved, hurrying off to vanish into the crowd.

By now Pegasus was involved in a conversation with a businessman from New York. Joey looked to the others, hands on his hips.

"Did you guys see that?! He was totally hiding something!" he declared. "He thought maybe we'd learned something else about that Rakesh guy!"

"But then he tried to cover it up with that lame excuse!" Tristan threw in.

"I don't know," Yugi hesitated, shifting his weight. "Maybe it really was like he said. Or maybe it's not even anything we should get involved with. Remember, those companies are supposed to be rivals. I think we should leave it alone unless we know it connects with our mysteries."

"But why'd they pop up out of nowhere?!" Joey cried, flinging his hands into the air. "And how come the gnomes keep showing up around Rakesh?!"

"You know what, who cares," Téa said in exasperation. "I'm worried about the Neo-Orichalcos. And I don't think the gnomes have anything to do with that. These companies probably don't, either. You heard what Kaiba said. And it makes sense."

"Hmm? Something Herr Kaiba said makes sense?"

They all froze. Somehow von Schroider had entered the room and had walked over near them without any of them realizing. Yugi slapped his forehead. This could be very bad. Had anyone else heard them talking? And had von Schroider really only heard the last part, or was that just when he was choosing to make his presence known?

"I thought somethin' was funny," Joey snapped as he turned to look at the pink-haired businessman. "I must've been smelling your expensive cologne!"

"I would hope so," Siegfried smirked, brushing a piece of hair back over his shoulder. "It is supposed to be a very powerful scent." He glanced from Joey to the other surprised teens. "But do tell me, what was that you were saying about Herr Kaiba and the Neo-Orichalcos? Surely you don't believe that he is involved with such a cult."

"Of course not!" Téa shot back, more vehemently than she had intended.

"But it's really not your business what we were saying," Tristan said. "We weren't talking to you."

Again Yugi felt nervous. The last thing he wanted was for a fight to erupt right here. That would draw even more attention to themselves. They were supposed to stay as inconspicuous as possible. And so he decided to try a different approach.

"Do you know anything about the Neo-Orichalcos, Mr. von Schroider?" he asked.

Siegfried looked to him. "I thought you would never ask," he smiled. "But I really don't appreciate giving information without receiving anything in return. Perhaps if I tell of what I know, you will tell what you were speaking of?"

Joey glowered. "Why you . . . !"

Yugi immediately held up a hand to stop him, while Tristan grabbed his arms to hold him back. "It's okay," Yugi said. "We weren't saying anything that secretive." He shot a silent warning look to the others. They did not want to make a scene. If von Schroider wanted to know, they could either feed him just a little bit of it or tell a white lie, and feel out what he wanted to tell them.

"Yeah," Téa said, catching the message. "Kaiba was just saying how weird the Neo-Orichalcos is." Which, technically, was not a lie; Seto surely did feel that way, and more. _Weird_ was an understatement.

"Quite so," Siegfried said. "A strange blue light that can steal away souls or create zombies is rather unsettling, isn't it?"

This was something new. "A blue light?" Yugi exclaimed.

"Zombies?!" Joey gasped.

"It was in Germany right before I left," Siegfried said. "Upon following it to its source, I discovered a duel in progress. Or should I say, coming to a close. As the player's lifepoints descended to zero, the beam closed in around him. Then he stiffened, his eyes becoming blank. He did not speak, or move of his own free will, and the winner led him away."

The teens exchanged shocked looks. If von Schroider was telling the truth, then this was important information. It would mean that the Neo-Orichalcos used a different color of light and could do more than the original; quite possibly it might be even more powerful. It was not a calming thought. It had been bad enough for the first Orichalcos to just steal souls. Now it sounded as though the empty shell of the body could be used too, instead of being left laying comatose.

"And you're telling us this, why?" Joey asked, his eyes narrowed in suspicion.

"Only because I believe you know more than you are saying," Siegfried said, "and that it would be useful for me to understand what is going on. Have you had experience with something similar to the Neo-Orichalcos before? I am assuming there was another."

Again they exchanged looks. Finally Yugi spoke.

"Well . . . yes, there was," he admitted. Maybe they should reveal a little bit more, for von Schroider's own safety, and that of his brother's.

"It was when this green light started showing up and people were dropping into comas left and right," Tristan said.

"Ah yes," Siegfried nodded. "I remember hearing about that. It was present in Germany, too—though I was very involved with other matters at the time and did not give it the heed I perhaps should have.

"And this . . . Neo-Orichalcos is the same device, version two?"

"We don't know," Téa said. "It sounds like it can do more than the first one could."

"The first couldn't make zombies or mind-controlled people if a duel was lost," Tristan said. "And Kaiba thought it would have to be someone connected with the first one that's doing it now," he added. "Nobody else would know enough."

"Yes, yes, this makes sense," Siegfried said. "But who, pray tell, was involved with the first one?"

Yugi bit his lip. He did not like to tell about Dartz, when the man had turned his life around and was no longer mad from the Orichalcos' influence. And the bikers might be guiltless in this matter, too. Getting Siegfried to suspect any of them would not be right.

"We don't know everyone who was involved," he said. "It's probably someone we've never met at all."

". . . And now I have to wonder whether to be more surprised that you're here or that you're talking to this snake."

The teens froze at the sound of Seto's voice. As they turned, he was standing not far from them, his arms crossed and a completely unamused expression gracing his features.

Siegfried smirked, seeming pleased to have his old rival appear. "Ah, Herr Kaiba, I was just informing your young friends of my experience with the Neo-Orichalcos," he said.

Seto stared at him. "_You _saw the Neo-Orichalcos?" he demanded, temporarily forgetting his annoyance at seeing Yugi and the others at this dinner.

"Oh yes," Siegfried smiled. "But I will leave them to tell you, if they wish it." With that he turned to leave, his long hair swishing out behind him. Seto glared at his retreating back.

But Siegfried did not get far. One of the guests suddenly leaped out into the corridor, a duel disk on his arm. His eyes flamed a deep blue, a sickening smile splitting his features. The tuxedo seemed out of place on his lanky form.

"People of the business world!" he cried.

A hushed silence fell over all who were present. Many sets of eyes turned to stare in disbelief at the man bearing shaggy brown hair and a wicked grin. Now a ring set with a blue stone was glowing fiercely on his right hand. As it burned brighter, his eyes flashed.

"I am here to represent the Neo-Orichalcos and announce our presence in the world," he continued. "All who serve the benevolent blue stones will have their wishes granted." His gaze traveled over the shocked and speechless crowd. "I will choose one blessed soul to face me in battle. If he triumphs over me, he will take my place. But if I win, then the Neo-Orichalcos must decide his fate."

"What the heck?!" Joey yelled. "So you think some _rocks_ are gonna give you anything you want?!"

The man's expression twisted in anger. "Who dares to insult the Neo-Orichalcos!" he burst out. "Step forward and be left to its mercy!" He pointed at Joey, who glowered.

"So you want me to duel you?" he said.

"That's right," declared the other. "Only you do not have a choice in the matter!"

A light burst forth from the blue ring, becoming a barrier around the two. Anyone standing too close cried in surprise and pain as they were thrust back by its force. Chairs and tables crashed to the floor with the toppled people.

Joey could only stare in disbelief and shock. The original Orichalcos could only be activated by a card, so there was always a chance that the opponent could be defeated before it was drawn. Now there was not such a luxury. He had been forced into the duel against his will. The horrified cries of Yugi and the others were lost to him, even though he could see them staring through the barrier.

"All sounds outside are blocked," smiled the man, "so there's no outside distractions. You are to focus only on the duel."

"And the wall won't come down until it's over, yadda yadda." Joey narrowed his eyes. "Okay, fine!" he said. "You want a duel? You're gonna get a duel. But you're gonna be sorry!" With that he drew out his deck. It was a good thing he had long ago started to carry it everywhere. He never knew when he might be drawn into a battle.

The sneer did not change. "We will see who will weep," said the other, "once the Neo-Orichalcos passes judgement."

The blue wall pulsated, as if in agreement.

"Yeah, like I'm afraid of a rock!" Joey shot back.

"You will be," was the response, twisted by a cruel smirk. "You will most certainly fear and respect the Neo-Orichalcos before this is done."


	5. The Business Dinner, Part 2

**Chapter Five**

Everyone was still staring in disbelief as the duel commenced inside the strange beam of light. No one had expected the Neo-Orichalcos to make an appearance right here, at such a large social gathering. For those familiar with the original, it was especially a shock. Those operating the Neo-Orichalcos must not be concerned about secrecy at all. They were either foolishly over-confident or more powerful than anyone had believed.

Dartz came closer, studying the duel with narrowed eyes. The view was distorted, but it looked as though the Wheeler boy was currently in the lead. His opponent, however, was not far behind. It would be impossible to predict a winner.

All this day he had mulled over who could be behind this organization. His former warriors had grown and changed so much that it did not seem likely that they would be involved. But he was not willing to rule them out. In times such as these, it was often the obvious explanation that was the correct one. Or it could also be someone new, such as he himself had been long ago—someone who had uncovered the secret of the Neo-Orichalcos by accident.

Now the Neo-Orichalcos member had made an admittedly impressive move, putting himself in the lead. Dartz crossed his arms. He had deduced that Wheeler's main strategies were not strategic at all, but instead were products of sheer luck. If he was planning to stand by such unprofessional means, then he had best hope the goddess of luck would grant him another chance.

Of course his friends had their attention riveted on the duel. And the Kaiba brothers were also watching. Kaiba himself had his arms crossed and his eyes narrowed. It was impossible to guess what he was thinking. His brother's eyes were wide. Wheeler was one of his friends, and he was likely worried. Most of the guests, shocked and not knowing at all what to make of it, were staring too. In particular, those from Jenova Corp seemed interested. And oh drat, Pegasus was starting to walk over to him.

"Quite a show, isn't it?" Pegasus mused. In his hand he was holding a cup of punch—from the alcoholic bowl, no doubt.

Dartz gave a curt nod, continuing to study the scene before them. Wheeler was being thrown back against the wall of the blue light. It jerked and sparked, the room vibrating. Some of the guests cried out in alarm as nearby glasses began to shatter. The caterers began to move the punch bowls, bottles of wine, and glassware as far away as possible. More of the people began to step back as well.

Pegasus clucked his tongue. "Poor Joey-boy," he said. "He's in such a dreadful situation."

"What do you know of this Neo-Orichalcos?" Dartz spoke at last, seeing that Pegasus was not intending to leave. It was not likely that the Duel Monsters creator knew anything of it, but there was always that vague chance. The very thought that Pegasus would know about such a subject when Dartz did not was highly irritating.

"Me?" Pegasus cried in mock surprise. "Why, I was hoping you could shed a little light on this mystery. Considering your . . . connections, I was under the impression that you would be the prime suspect."

"Your impression was incorrect." Another jolt, stronger this time. The chandelier overhead began to rock back and forth. Dartz calmly stepped to the side. If it was going to tear free, he was not going to be found standing underneath it.

"Oh, I see." Pegasus swirled the liquid around in the glass before taking another sip. "Then your company is still . . . perfectly legal?"

It would be impossible for the man to not know what an irritation he was being. More than likely he was attempting to get a rise out of Dartz, even if he also wanted to know the answer to his question.

"Perfectly," Dartz responded.

"Do you still keep in touch with those boys you had working for you?" Pegasus wondered.

"Not at all." Dartz kept his voice completely clipped and cold. None of this was Pegasus's business. Either he was ungodly curious, or he had been put up to this by Yugi and the others. Or even both.

"Hmm. . . . Yes, I can see how that would be awkward," Pegasus said. "They must be very wary of you. I suppose they haven't forgiven you for what you did, have they?"

"I really wouldn't know. Perhaps you should ask them, if it's such a burning question in your mind. Now if you will excuse me." Dartz walked away, moving to see into the seal from another angle. If Pegasus was not willing to take the hints, Dartz was not willing to remain talking to him.

He peered into the blue glow. Wheeler had regained the lead. In fact, it looked as though he was destroying the rest of the Neo-Orichalcos member's monsters and lifepoints. The blue light was reacting to the immense amount of power inside its seal. The brown-haired man's lifepoints were hitting zero.

"He's won!" Téa exclaimed, clapping her hands in relief.

"Alright, Joey!" Yugi beamed.

"You showed him what for!" Tristan smirked.

The light began to diminish, closing in around the strange person. Joey stumbled back, his eyes narrowed. If what von Schroider had said was true, one of several things could happen now. He gritted his teeth, tensing as his opponent's pained cry ripped through the hall. The bewildered guests were gawking in disbelief.

The last of the blue faded, vanishing into the ring around the man's finger. His body was slumped forward, his arms hanging limp at his sides. Suddenly he straightened up. His eyes were blank.

"The Neo-Orichalcos," he whispered in a monotone. "I must serve the Neo-Orichalcos." With that he turned, beginning to make his way towards the door.

Joey stared. He really was acting like a zombie! Was his soul gone, or had he just been put under mind-control? Either way, this was too bizarre. And they could not let the guy get away. "Hey! Come back here!" he yelled, recovering from the shock as he gave chase.

A blue glow emanated from the ring, encircling the cult member's body. As Joey drew closer, the light repelled him. He yelped, flying backwards to crash into a table. Chairs and the table itself spilled to the floor. The blond muttered, shaking his head as he looked up again from where he was sprawled amidst the mess. The zombie was disappearing out the door. No one else tried to stop him.

Joey leaped to his feet. "Did you guys see that?!" he cried, as Yugi, Tristan, Téa, and Mokuba hurried over to see if he was okay.

"We saw it alright," Tristan said, his voice dark. "Just like the newspapers and von Schroider said."

"Are you okay, Joey?" Yugi asked in concern.

Joey waved it off. "Yeah, yeah, I'm fine," he said gruffly. "I just wanna know what's going on around here! I mean, how would the guy dare to show up here like this? There's people everywhere!"

"You heard what he said—he wanted to announce the Neo-Orichalcos's presence to the world," Tristan said. "And he's sure done that now."

"Did he say anything else about the Neo-Orichalcos?" Téa wanted to know.

"Not really," Joey said. "Just that they were already everywhere, and anybody we meet could be a member."

"Well, that's going to be a real picnic," Tristan said in frustration.

Mokuba swallowed. "You don't think the Neo-Orichalcos could've attacked Marik, do you?" he asked, unable to keep the quavering out of his voice.

"I don't know, Mokuba," Yugi admitted. It had definitely been one of his concerns. After what they had just witnessed, it seemed even more possible.

Mokuba looked down. ". . . And if he lost, then that could mean that he might be working for them," he said.

Yugi and the others exchanged worried glances. At last Joey stepped forward.

"What're you talkin' about?" he said. "Marik wouldn't let himself get beat by those freaks. If I can win, then he can too. Maybe he's never even heard of the Neo-Orichalcos."

Mokuba raised his gaze to meet Joey's airy expression. "Then where is he?" he cried. "Why can't I find him? Why can't Seto find him?"

Joey did not have an answer for that. His shoulders slumped. "There could be a whole lot of reasons," he said, but after everything they had seen it sounded hollow. It was seeming more and more logical that what the Ishtars had gone to investigate was the Neo-Orichalcos. Maybe the encounter had gone amiss. But even if that was true . . . surely not all of them could have been defeated! Maybe they were just in hiding. But then they should come out of hiding and let everyone else know what was going on! The urge to mess up his hair in frustration was growing stronger.

"Hmm. It looks as though there was quite a bit of excitement before we arrived. I'm beginning to regret we missed it."

Everyone started and turned at the new voice. A strange, broad-shouldered man with glasses and a tan ponytail was standing in the doorway. Next to him was the man Joey had bumped into the previous evening.

"It's the Rakesh guy!" Joey declared, pointing towards him.

"Yeah, but who's that with him?" Téa frowned.

"Probably the company president," Tristan said. "Dalton or whatever his name is."

Yugi blinked. "Yeah, and look how Zack's reacting!" he exclaimed.

All eyes turned to follow Yugi's gaze. The Jenova Corp promotions director was watching Dalton and Azazel, his stance tense, his expression serious.

"He looks like he's expecting trouble," Seto remarked as he walked over to them. "It's probably true that their companies are rivals. But who cares? I don't, and you shouldn't either. You've been poking your noses where they don't belong enough for all of us."

"No one asked you, Kaiba!" Joey retorted.

"He's probably ticked off that we got free passes by being Pegasus's guests," Tristan said in a stage whisper.

Seto ignored him. Instead he turned his attention to the bespectacled man, who was answering a question posed to him by a reporter. Apparently she, in that nosy journalist way, wanted to know exactly why he was late.

Dalton was smirking in response. "It seems, good madam," he said, with obvious false courtesy, "that we were delayed because we were handling important company business. Our conference call to Tokyo ran much longer than we had intended. I do wish I could tell you everything that was discussed, but unfortunately that's confidential."

The reporter merely nodded. "Is this the first business dinner you have attended yourself, sir?" she asked.

"Oh, I've been to one or two others, both out of the country," Dalton said. "So I suppose you could say that this is my stateside debut."

"And what are your feelings on this Neo-Orichalcos phenomenon?"

Dalton blinked, but quickly regained his composure. "The Neo-Orichalcos?" he repeated. "Is it something I am supposed to be aware of?"

"It seems to be a cult, Mr. Dalton," the reporter said. "One of the members crashed the dinner and challenged one of the guests to a Duel Monsters game." With that she summarized the appearance of the blue light, as well as the duel's events and outcome. Dalton and Azazel both listened with great interest.

"It sounds as though it is something to be avoided," Dalton commented upon the conclusion. "I certainly won't be going out of my way to investigate. As long as it doesn't bother me, I have no reason to disturb it."

"And one final question, sir—is it true that your company and Jenova Corp are rivals?"

Dalton's smile tightened. "We focus on differing aspects of electronics," he said. "We have no reason to be rivals, now, do we?"

"I suppose not," the woman acknowledged. "I do thank you for your time, Mr. Dalton. I believe I'm the first to get an interview with you in person."

Seto rolled his eyes. Was she just being polite because they were on the air, or was she really blind to his irritation over that last question? Not that he cared, but it was only further proof of the companies' negative relations with each other. And Dalton had reacted oddly when he had first been asked about the Neo-Orichalcos. Was that an indication of anything, or had he just been surprised by the name? It might be something to look into later.

"Well," Seto said, looking back to Yugi and the others, "haven't you had enough yet? You came here to find out how much these companies knew about the Neo-Orichalcos. I'd say you've had a satisfactory answer."

"Satisfactory?" Joey repeated in indignation. "We've just started to investigate! And how do we know this guy isn't just lying to the reporter?"

"Shh! Keep it down!" Tristan scolded. Now several people were turning to look, curious and confused expressions on their faces. Tristan looked away, crossing his arms and trying to look casual. Instead he just looked stiff.

"You don't look any less suspicious, Taylor," Seto remarked. Looking back to Joey, he added, "And we don't know. But if you think he would actually tell you something different than he told the reporter, you're more in need of help than I thought."

Joey glowered. "Heeey! That wasn't what I meant!"

"Then what did you mean?" Seto asked in annoyance. "Or do I really want to know."

"I just meant maybe we could snoop around and find something incriminating, like in their pockets! If I'd just looked at those papers I was picking up for Rakesh last night. . . ." Joey snapped his fingers in frustration.

"Aside from the fact that they likely would not be bringing anything 'incriminating' to a business dinner, how would you even check their pockets?" Seto had to wonder why he was torturing himself by continuing this conversation. Maybe he just wanted to be sure to know what he was going to be up against for the rest of the evening. Then he would need to stay as far away from all of them as possible. Of course, now that probably would not do any good. He would already be implicated in their schemes because he had been seen talking to them.

"Well . . . I'd think of something!" Joey retorted. "Like pretending to bump into them so I could pull stuff out of their pockets." He smirked. "Didn't you see how I mopped the floor with that Neo-Orichalcos guy? There's nothin' to worry about!"

"You had a burst of extraordinary, maybe even miraculous, good luck, Wheeler," Seto said as he began to walk away. "Someday it's not going to last."

"Ohhh, just wait, Kaiba!" Joey yelled after him. "I'll show you it'll last!"

Now even more people were looking. Yugi slapped his forehead.

"Way to keep a low profile, Joey," Tristan muttered.

Joey looked back to him. "What? The guy was driving me up the wall."

"As usual," Téa sighed.

Joey frowned. "He used to bug you a lot too, Téa," he said. "Now he doesn't seem to anymore."

"Well, right now he's got a point," Téa retorted, opting to ignore Joey's other comments. Of course Seto still frustrated her, especially when he did the most dangerous things imaginable as he chased down the people who came after the company or Mokuba. And he had also gotten into so many life-threatening situations when his path had crossed with hers and the others' in their mysteries. In some way she felt guilty for those times, particularly when he had risked his life to save hers.

The very first time he had saved her had been during Battle City, when she had been strapped in that chair with the metal crate over her head. And he had helped her more than once since then. Sometimes she felt as though she had not been able to do anything for him in return. But she had helped Mokuba out of some serious predicaments, and she knew Seto was grateful to her for those times.

She turned, watching Seto get stopped by some businesswoman. He seemed disinterested in what she wanted and soon walked on. The woman, not seeming to care, turned to go the opposite direction.

Téa frowned. There was something about the look in those cold brown eyes that made her concerned. "Hey guys," she said, "who is that?"

The others turned to look as well. "She doesn't look friendly, whoever she is," Tristan said. "I wouldn't want to get on her bad side."

"Yeah, same here," Joey frowned. "She looks like she swallowed a lemon whole."

"Or two lemons," another voice spoke.

Joey and Tristan whirled to see Duke approaching. In one hand he held a cup of punch. The index finger of his other hand was twirling a piece of hair. It was weird to see him without that red-and-black bandanna around his head, but of course he was not wearing it here. The die earring, however, remained—and strangely enough, it did not seem so out of place with the tuxedo.

"So what are you guys doing here?" he asked. "I didn't think Kaiba would be a good enough sport to take you along."

"We didn't come with Kaiba, wise guy," Joey said. "We came with Pegasus."

Duke raised an eyebrow. "Any particular reason?" he asked.

"Yeah," Tristan said. "We wanted to do some investigating, but this isn't really a great time to be talking about it. Were you here when that Neo-Orichalcos weirdo showed up?"

Duke nodded. "I couldn't get over to you until now," he said. "When it was over I got held up talking to von Schroider."

"Oh fun," Tristan said in sarcasm.

"Do you know the lemon-eater, Devlin?" Joey asked.

Duke shrugged. "Not personally, but I think her name is Kala-Ansa," he said. "She's a tough customer."

"So 'Ansa's her last name?" Joey blinked.

"I don't think so," Duke said. "'Kala-Ansa.' It's all one word."

"Then what's her last name?!" Joey exclaimed. "Oh please tell me she has a last name."

"Everybody has a last name, Joey," Duke smirked. "I just don't know what hers is. Why? Are you interested?"

Joey's look was filled with daggers. "Of course I'm not interested!" he snapped. "I'm just wondering why nobody has a last name anymore!" He threw his hands in the air. "First Dartz, then Sephiroth, then Dalton, and now Kala-Ansa!"

"I know who she is."

Mokuba had been so quiet that they had almost forgotten he was still there. Now, as they looked to him in surprise, he was uneasily watching the stern woman.

"She's the mother of a friend of mine," he said.

"Oh. You mean one of the new ones you found?" Joey asked.

Mokuba was not sure he liked the phrasing Joey had chosen. But he nodded. "Yeah," he confirmed. "She makes me nervous."

"In what way, Mokuba?" Yugi queried. Was she someone they needed to be wary of? Could she even be involved with the Neo-Orichalcos? Concerned thoughts were turning over in his mind. Anyone could be a suspect. Being trusting, Yugi hated to think it. But it was true.

Mokuba shrugged. "It just feels like she looks down on everyone and thinks her daughter's better than anyone else's kids," he said. "But Sun's not like that at all," he added. "She's just quiet." He certainly understood that about her. He had been that way himself, not even opening up to Seto after a while because he did not want to burden his brother even more. It had only been recently that he had begun again to communicate more with people. Yugi and the others had been largely responsible for that.

Joey perked up in interest. "Hey, do you think her mother might know about the Neo-Orichalcos?" he wondered.

Mokuba frowned. "I don't know," he said slowly. "She really doesn't seem like the type. I think she's more like the kind of person who would be disgusted by the Neo-Orichalcos and talk about it being a cult."

"Well, I say we check out her place anyway," Joey said in resolution. "Where does she work?"

Now Mokuba looked downright uncomfortable. "I don't know," he said. "Some financial company, I think." He shifted. "She could really make trouble for you if she caught you."

"So we won't get caught!" Joey retorted. "Come on, what if she does know about the Neo-Orichalcos? What if she even knows about Marik and where he is?"

The child's eyes widened slightly as he looked away. "I guess you'd better look," he mumbled.

"Now that's what I like to hear!" Joey declared.

A heart-wrenching scream ripped through the room. "Mr. von Schroider!" a maid cried as she ran through the door. "Mr. von Schroider!"

Everyone turned to look, including the man being called. "My goodness, Fraulein," he commented, "whatever is the matter?" He began to walk over to her, brushing his hair over his shoulder.

She shook her head, her eyes wide and stricken. "Mr. von Schroider, it's your brother!" she exclaimed.

Instantly any trace of humor was gone. "What about my brother?" he demanded, his voice suddenly stern and serious.

She was gripping a cloth in her hands. "I saw the room's door ajar, so I knocked to see if everything was alright," she said. "There wasn't any answer, so I pushed it open further and stepped inside. Then . . . then . . ." She swallowed hard. "I saw your brother laying on the floor, sir!" she cried. "He . . . he's dead!"

Siegfried turned pale. Without another word he brushed past her, heading for the door. A shocked murmur rose behind him.

Mokuba was staring, the tears coming to his eyes. Leonhard had been his friend. They had communicated through email ever since Leonhard had returned to Germany. And they had planned to meet the next time they were both in the same town. How could this be happening? How could he really be gone . . . just like that?

"What's going on?" Mokuba wailed. "Everything's happening so fast. Did the Neo-Orichalcos do this, too? Leon's just a kid! Why would they hurt him?"

For a long time no one had an answer. They were still standing around, trying to process the unthinkable news. But then Joey stepped forward, clenching a fist.

"I don't know what's goin' on," he said, "or if the Neo-Orichalcos did it. But we're gonna find out. And we're gonna let 'em have it!"

No one disagreed.


	6. Vengeance is Mine

**Chapter Six**

The room was large in size. It had been used as an office by its previous occupant, and now it still served that purpose—but it appeared much less welcoming than in the past. The lighting was dim, almost non-existent, and the glow that was in use cast an almost blue shade around the space, bathing the area in ice. It was appropriate; the hue was reminiscent of the tanzanite stones that were giving power to the Neo-Orichalcos.

The red chair at the dark wooden desk was seating its new owner. The man leaned forward, his short, barely flipped hair brushing against the sides of his face. He was resting his elbows on the desk, his fingers clasped under his chin. A viewing screen, empowered by tanzanite, was in front of him. He was observing all the activity of his warriors tonight. They had done well. Surely the Neo-Orichalcos was preparing to reward them for their loyalty and cunning.

Some in his position would have been foolish enough to try taking over a major business right away. Instead, he had searched for a smaller company, one with a known criminal at its head. The businessman and his cohorts had been defeated in duels, and now the unsavory characters were working for him as members of the Neo-Orichalcos. Poetic justice. Any time someone would think something odd was going on, the mind-controlled white-collar criminal would simply tell them No it was not, or whatever he needed to in order to appease them. He still attended to all the normal duties of the company. Its rightful, new leader only took his place in this office in the evenings.

For the time being, it was a perfect location to continue their operations. The members would stay here until something else could be arranged. Eventually he planned to create a portal, such as the one Dartz had made connecting the Paradius building with the Orichalcos temple.

The bodies of his and his right-hand man's loved ones were being kept in the basement. They were obviously dead, but none had shown any signs of deterioration. The Neo-Orichalcos was preserving them, waiting until just the right amount of power was gathered in order to revive them all. At times he journeyed down there to visit them, though he never stayed for long. Mostly he was only checking on their conditions. Even knowing they could be restored, he could not bear to stay with their lifeless bodies for more than a couple of minutes.

By contrast, the older man spent many hours in the basement, meditating in silence. The redhead found this extremely morbid. It was not the same thing as being in a cemetery, which had been one of his favored pastimes. The bodies were under the ground in a cemetery. They were not on display for everyone to see, except in rare cases where people had installed a window in a grave. But maybe the Egyptian did not consider his siblings to be dead. Maybe to him, they were only sleeping or comatose.

The gray-eyed man knew better. They were dead. That was the problem. _They were all dead!_

He unclasped his fingers, clenching them into fists. If he could only reverse time, back to when they had entered that fateful building. . . . If he could just stop the duels from taking place. . . . They had weakened the entire structure, when so many had been going on at once. But it had been the final explosions ripping through the floors that had sealed the building's fate. The losers of the duels had probably perished in the tanzanite bubbles, though having the building fall on them could not have helped.

He stood up, pushing the chair back. There was no sense dwelling on the past. That had always been one of his weaknesses. He had to focus on the future, on what would come if he continued to be determined and fight for his loved ones' liberation. The Neo-Orichalcos would be benevolent to those that served it.

Wait . . . what was this? His gaze went back to the screen on his desk. Fire flamed in his eyes. What was this member thinking? The man was engaged in a duel against a child. And though the boy was holding his own, it was apparent that he was going to lose. The lanky man leaned down, pressing the fast forward button. Sure enough, the child was defeated. His mouth opened in a pained scream as the light closed around him. When it faded, he collapsed to the floor. The member of the Neo-Orichalcos laughed, fleeing the scene.

This was not to be allowed. Children were off-limits to the Neo-Orichalcos, even if they were gaming prodigies. It was only adults who were supposed to be targeted, and the members were supposed to be careful in their selection so as to pick ones who deserved what they received.

He pressed the intercom button. "Rishid, did Richard Cristoffson come in?" he demanded.

There was a pause as the database was checked. "Yes, Mr. Mackenzie. He returned twenty minutes ago."

"I want him in my office. Now!"

"Of course, Mr. Mackenzie." The intercom clicked.

He straightened up, spinning away from the desk to walk to the window. Rishid had been a good help to him, despite his initial objections. At times he was still not certain of what they were doing, but the stones always served to reassure his mind. Or they seemed to, at least; he had not tried to revolt. But he would not do that, would he? He still did not trust the other with his sister's research. He wanted to be around to see how it was used. And the part of him that wanted to believe longed to accept that his siblings would be revived. Yes, Rishid would stay.

A soft meow brought his attention downward. Liu was peering up at him, having walked over from her basket in the corner of the room. Not knowing how long they would be gone, Raphael had brought the Ragdoll cat with them. She had been left in the hotel suite when they had journeyed to their fate. Now the redhead was looking after her while waiting for Raphael's return. She knew something was wrong, though she did not understand what, and she deeply missed Raphael. He had never let her see the body. She was so devoted that she might have then remained in the basement unceasingly, without eating and barely sleeping.

He bent down, petting her furry head. He was not in the habit of talking to cats, but he did show her attention. She had often been curled up with him while he was in the office. Now she nuzzled him, her blue eyes sad.

"Soon," he uttered. "It won't be just the two of us for much longer."

The door opening brought his attention elsewhere. He turned, looking to the man who was just entering. He straightened, his eyes narrowing at the sight.

"You wanted to see me, Master Alister?" Cristoffson asked.

"Yes," Alister confirmed. He walked forward, his steps determined. Liu hung back, a frightened mew escaping her lips. She did not want to see whatever was going to happen now. Alister was angry. He was scary when he was angry.

"I was watching the playback of your exploits tonight," Alister said. "You were at a business dinner in Domino City?"

"That's right. Me and Crane, but Crane got whomped by the Wheeler guy," Cristoffson reported. "He's a zombie now."

"And you went upstairs and attacked a boy," Alister said, his tone clipped and dangerous.

"Yeah, the von Schroider kid," Cristoffson said. "The guy's a creep. You hear what he did during Kaiba's Grand Prix tournament? Not that Kaiba himself hasn't done some garbage too. But von Schroider probably still isn't any different. Those businessmen, they're a ruthless bunch."

"So why didn't you go after von Schroider himself?" Alister asked.

"It's more effective to keep him alive and punish him by seeing what's happened to his brother," Cristoffson said.

"And punish the innocent while you're at it," Alister surmised.

Cristoffson blinked. "But sir, wouldn't it be worse to get rid of von Schroider and leave the kid to deal with it?" he wondered.

"Maybe in that case you should have made an exception and left them both alone," Alister said. "You can't think I, or the Neo-Orichalcos, will let you get away with this." He began to draw his deck out of his pocket. Around his neck, the stone glowed a deep blue.

"M-master Alister!" Cristoffson took a step back. "I won the duel. . . . Doesn't that mean the Neo-Orichalcos wasn't displeased with me?"

"Some people can win through dumb luck," Alister said. "That doesn't have anything to do with the Neo-Orichalcos's wishes. If it was displeased, it might bide its time and wait for someone else to deal out justice. And I'm that person."

The blue light shot forth from the gem and encircled them both. Liu meowed in distress, retreating to her basket. Raphael would not like any of what was happening here. If only he would come back!

* * *

It did not take Siegfried long to journey upstairs to where their suite was located. His heart was racing, his mind awhirl as he pushed open the door moments later. Several thoughts continued to echo around him, imprisoning him as the answer remained out of reach. Was it true what the maid had said? Was Leonhard . . . dead? What if he was merely unconscious? But he was an excellent duelist. Would the Neo-Orichalcos have stooped so low as to target him?

His green-eyed gaze traveled the room in an instant. Leonhard was still laying on the floor. The maid had likely fled the instant she had seen him, running downstairs to inform Siegfried of what she had found.

His heart twisted taut as he hastened over and knelt beside the still form. "Leonhard," he pleaded, gripping the limp shoulder as he reached with his other hand to check for a pulse. There was nothing.

Siegfried took his brother's body into his arms. Why had this happened? Surely they had not targeted Leonhard because Siegfried had revealed what he had seen concerning the Neo-Orichalcos. The display downstairs had indicated that they wanted to be known. This had just been a heartless, brutal attack against a child. Rage began to build in his heart.

"Mr. von Schroider?"

His head jerked up. People had begun to crowd into the doorway. A reporter was in front. Behind her, familiar faces could be seen. Yugi Muto and his friends were staring in shock and horror. Mokuba Kaiba's eyes were filled with unshed tears. And there were many others, people he did not even know but who had come out of morbid curiosity and surprise. His anger continued to rise.

"This is not for spectators!" he cried, pulling himself to his feet while holding onto Leonhard's body. "Do you have no decency?"

"Siegfried, my boy, calm down," Pegasus said from somewhere in the crowd. "We only want to help you. Is it true that poor Leonhard is . . ."

"Out!" Siegfried stormed forward, taking hold of the door with one hand. He looked from Pegasus to the reporter. "I will not answer your questions or be subjected to your false concern. You will all kindly leave us alone!" He slammed the door shut, turning the lock. Perhaps later he would regret this outburst. It would certainly not look good in the papers. But he doubted Pegasus was truly bothered by this tragedy. And the few who actually were worried about Leonhard he did not want to deal with right now. The fury and grief were too strong.

The Neo-Orichalcos would pay for this.

* * *

On the other side of the door, Yugi and the others were stricken. Most of the crowd was starting to disperse—but the teens lingered, wanting to do something yet not knowing what it could ever be.

"Did you see him?" Tristan finally asked. "He really looked awful."

"Von Schroider or his brother?" Duke wondered.

"Leon," Tristan said. "Man . . . it really looked like he was . . ."

Duke nodded. "I don't blame von Schroider for getting uptight," he said. "Finding his brother like that, and then seeing all those people crowding at the door. . . ."

"But we weren't being nosy," Joey objected. "It was just some of the others."

"When you're really grief-stricken, you don't always think clearly," Duke said.

"And how do you know so much, Devlin?" Joey frowned. Duke never had been one of his favorite people. He tolerated him as a member of the group, and of course did not want anything bad to happen to him, but he doubted they would ever be that close. And when Duke and Tristan had such a war over Serenity, one that was often not so friendly, Joey wondered how they could ever enjoy hanging out together, either.

"It's not something you'd understand." Duke brushed the stray locks away from his face. "But anyway, I'm not the issue here," he said before Joey could retort. "So it looks like Leon is really dead. Why?"

"If he was really attacked by the Neo-Orichalcos, someone should have seen something," Téa said, "like a blue light outside his window."

"Good thinking, Téa!" Yugi declared. "We should go outside and start asking people if they saw anything strange."

"We should ask people in here, too," Mokuba finally spoke up. "Maybe someone saw a weird guy running from the direction of Leon's suite."

"Yeah!" Joey said. "What if the creep's even still hanging around? He could be a guest here or something."

"We shouldn't put it past him," Yugi said.

"So, is it true?" another voice asked.

All turned to look. Seto was coming down the hall, his expression unreadable. Mokuba hurried over to him.

"It's true," he said, his voice lowering in anguish. "We saw him laying there, Seto! . . . And Siegfried was so upset. . . ."

"He slammed the door on everybody," Joey said. "He's not gonna want to talk to you, if you were hoping to try."

Seto rolled his eyes. "I couldn't care less about trying, Wheeler," he said. "I'm the last person von Schroider would want to hear from on something like this." He looked down at Mokuba, laying a hand on his brother's shoulder. He may not want to speak with von Schroider, but he could understand the man's grief. If that was his own brother, and everyone was congregated in the doorway with their wide and curious eyes, he would not hesitate to order them away.

. . . What if it _had_ been his own brother? What if it still would be? If this had been the work of the Neo-Orichalcos, they could target Mokuba just as easily as Leonhard.

"Did von Schroider know what had happened?" Seto asked at last.

"We don't know," Téa said. "I guess it could have been the Neo-Orichalcos. It would be really weird if it was a coincidence."

"But it's not supposed to kill people!" Mokuba exclaimed, turning back to them. "It leaves them in comas, or even gets them to be zombies or something, but it isn't supposed to kill them!" The tears were pricking harder at his eyes. A few escaped, traveling down the sides of his face. Every possibility they learned about the Neo-Orichalcos was more horrifying than the last. It was horrible enough that this had happened. But now he also had to worry all the more about Marik. Maybe this was what had happened to him. Maybe Marik was laying dead somewhere, too.

Seto gripped tighter at Mokuba's shoulder. "I'm going to get to the bottom of this," he vowed. "I guess I don't even need to ask if you're going to work on it too."

"Of course we are!" Joey exclaimed, stepping forward. "You think we could just sit back and ignore all of this?!"

"Then how about making yourselves useful and start questioning people? . . . Subtly," he added, giving Joey a pointed look. Being subtle was not one of Joey's specialities.

"We were going to do that," Duke said.

"Yeah! You're not the only one with a brain, Kaiba!" Joey added.

"Don't make this harder than it is," Seto grunted. It was grating on his nerves, and Mokuba was not happy about the fighting, either. The boy was looking from one to another, clenching a fist.

"We're all on the same side!" Mokuba cried. "We've gotta find out who did this to Leon and catch them. Can't we forget about how some of us feel about each other for now?!"

Joey sighed. "You're right, Mokuba," he conceded. "Oh well, I guess we can try to keep a truce going for tonight." He certainly felt a lot better towards Seto than he had in the past. Their various adventures had helped with that. But it did not change that the cold businessman could still get Joey very frustrated. His patience was especially short tonight.

"If it was the Neo-Orichalcos," Duke spoke up, "wasn't it probably the guy Joey took out who attacked Leon?"

"Maybe," Tristan said. "It depends on when Leon was being dueled. There might be more than one of those creeps that got in."

"That's one of the things we need to find out," Yugi said. "Let's split up and start looking."

"An excellent idea," Seto grumbled. "I'm going to begin on this floor. Mokuba will stay with me."

Mokuba nodded. He certainly did not have any objections to that idea. He wanted to be alone now even less than he had before the dinner.

"I'll take the upper floors," Tristan volunteered.

"Why don't we try outside, Joey?" Yugi suggested.

Joey nodded. "Fine with me," he said. "What about you guys?" He looked from Duke to Téa.

"I'll go with Tristan," Duke said.

"I'll do some investigating on my own," Téa decided. "Maybe the person snuck into the room where the dinner is. I'll try to check it out."

Yugi frowned in concern. "Are you sure, Téa?" he asked. Under these circumstances, he did not like the thought of any of them being on their own.

"Yeah," she smiled. "There'll be people all around. If I need help, someone will come. And if I see somebody suspicious, I won't try to catch them all by myself."

Yugi nodded. "Okay," he said, still not liking the idea. "Let's all meet in there in thirty minutes."

"Fine by me," Duke said.

With that, everyone went their separate ways.

* * *

Tristan was frustrated by the end of the first floor they searched. No one had seen anything. Most did not even know anything was wrong. Any noise they had heard they had thought had come from the room where the business dinner was being held. But when they asked what was amiss, Tristan and Duke did not give direct answers. "Oh, someone'll probably come tell you about it soon," Tristan told one confused person.

"Watch anybody who acts suspicious," Duke added. "You might be helping to stop someone dangerous."

"Now you're going to have the whole floor in an uproar," Tristan moaned as they walked on. "And we haven't learned anything, either."

"We learned that nobody was paying attention," Duke said, half-sarcastic. He moved to mosey ahead to the corner. By now they were walking by the righthand wall, going towards the corridor that turned to the left.

"Hey wait!" Tristan hissed, grabbing at the other teen's arm.

Duke frowned. "Now what?" he grumbled, stopping in mid-walk.

"Just look!" Tristan gestured ahead. Azazel Rakesh was standing in the doorway of the room at the corner, his back to the duo. He was conversing with someone inside, but they were speaking too low to be heard.

Duke blinked. "That weird guy from Fragmented Triangle," he said. "What's he doing?"

"Let's try to get closer!" Tristan decided. Without waiting for Duke to reply, he began to creep forward. Muttering under his breath, Duke hurried after him. They stopped as soon as the words ahead were audible, pressing themselves against the wall in an attempt to remain unseen.

"What is this?!" the raven-haired boy whispered in disbelief. "I don't see that he's talking to _anyone!_"

Tristan stared. Indeed, Azazel was standing and facing nothing. But as he spoke, someone else answered back.

"Something strange is going on," Azazel was saying. "I don't know what it is, but this Neo-Orichalcos is behind it. I wouldn't care, except that they might come after us. And I don't particularly want to lose my soul or become a zombie. Dalton doesn't, either."

"Well," purred the other voice, "I know what to do."

"And don't waste time teasing people again," Azazel objected.

An odd laugh. "If I do my duty, there's no reason why I can't have a little fun, too. You worry too much, Azazel."

"When it's you, I doubt that," Azazel retorted.

"A compliment?"

"No."

"I'll take it as such, anyway. Because most of what you worry about is so enjoyable to take part in."

With that a dark-haired form began to materialize out of thin air. But even when fully visible, it remained translucent. The ice-blue eyes lit up, peering past Azazel. It had noticed the boys some time ago, but had said nothing. Blinking in surprise, Azazel turned to look as well.

Tristan could not control the alarmed yelp that tore from his lips. _The spectre looked exactly like Azazel!_


End file.
